{{Short description|Hong Kong politician (born 1949)}} {{family name hatnote|Tsang|lang=Chinese}} {{Use British English|date=March 2015}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Tsang Tak-sing | native_name = {{nobold|曾德成}} | native_name_lang = zh-hk | honorific_suffix = GBS, JP | image = Tsang Tak-Sing.jpg | image_size = 200px | order = [[Secretary for Home Affairs]] | term_start = 1 July 2007 | term_end = 21 July 2015 | 1blankname = Chief Executive | 1namedata = [[Donald Tsang|Sir Donald Tsang]]<br />[[Leung Chun-ying]] | 2blankname = Chief Secretary | 2namedata = [[Henry Tang]] | 3blankname = Undersecretary | 3namedata = [[Florence Hui]] | 4blankname = Permanent Secretary | 4namedata = [[:zh:楊立門|Raymond Young]] | 5blankname = Political Assistant | 5namedata = [[:zh:徐英偉|Casper Tsui]] | predecessor = [[Patrick Ho]] | successor = [[Lau Kong-wah]] | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1949}} | birth_place = [[Guangzhou|Canton]], [[Republic of China (1912-1949)|China]] | alma_mater = [[St. Paul's College, Hong Kong|St Paul's College]]<br />[[University of Hong Kong]] (MIPA, M.A.)<br />[[Harvard University]] ([[Nieman Fellow]]) }} {{Infobox Chinese |order= |showflag= |t=曾德成 |j=Cang<sup>4</sup> Dak<sup>1</sup>sing<sup>4</sup> |p=Zēng Déchéng |y=Jāng Dāk-sìhng }} '''Tsang Tak Sing''' {{post-nominals|country=HKG|GBS|JP}} ({{lang-zh|c=曾德成}}; born 1949, [[Guangzhou|Canton]], China) is the former [[Secretary for Home Affairs]] of Hong Kong. Formerly an adviser to the [[Central Policy Unit]], he assumed office on 1 July 2007, replacing [[Patrick Ho]]. He is the younger brother of [[Jasper Tsang]], who was the legislative councillor and former chairman of the [[Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong]]. Tsang is regarded as pro-Beijing with a long history of supporting the [[Chinese Communist Party]].
==1967 riot participant== Tsang is a leftist who participated in the [[Hong Kong 1967 Leftist Riots]],<ref name="sc">[https://www.scmp.com/article/618450/chan-flabbergasted-attack "Chan 'flabbergasted' by attack"] ''South China Morning Post'', Thursday, 6 December 2006</ref> when he was an Upper Form Six science student at [[St. Paul's College, Hong Kong|St Paul's College]].<ref name="Fu">Fu, Hualing; Petersen, Carole; & Young, Simon N.M. ''National Security and Fundamental Freedoms: Hong Kong's Article 23 Under Scrutiny'' (2005), Hong Kong University Press. {{ISBN|962-209-732-4}}.</ref><ref name="far" />
An elite student in a prestigious school, Tsang had no ties with the leftist camp, but he was disgusted by what he considered the colonial government's oppression and viewed current society as decadent. He also branded the instruction at his school as simplistic, with many teachers not meeting the English level required for teaching. He drew up plans with a few classmates to support the leftist movement, and they distributed 375 leaflets in classrooms during lunchtime. However, Tsang, a [[school prefect]] at that time, was the only participant identified.<ref name="scmp">{{cite news|title=Tsang Tak-sing, the unrepentant youth activist made good|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1842809/tsang-tak-sing-unrepentant-youth-activist-made-good|publisher=South China Morning Post|date=22 July 2015|accessdate=21 August 2017}}</ref>
==Arrest== He was arrested on 28 September 1967 after distributing [[Sedition|anti-government]] and Communism promotion leaflets, which condemned "the education system aiming at enslavement", "The Colonial Government prohibits us from becoming patriotic, by quelling with fascist forces", around the entrance of his school. He was reported by the [[schoolmaster]] R. G. Wells, arrested, tried and convicted on 9 October for two years for distributing inflammatory leaflets that promoted [[public order crime]],<ref name="sc" /><ref>{{cite news|title=在課室放煽動性標語 曾德成囚二年|publisher= Wah Kiu Yat Po|date=10 October 1967}}</ref> thus depriving him of his chance of a university education due to his past [[criminal record]].<ref name="Fu" /> Tsang denied the charge and told the court that what he said in the leaflets was true and did not constitute [[sedition]].<ref name="scmp" />
Tsang was interviewed by [[Andrew Li Kwok-nang]] while serving his term. Li was a student at [[Cambridge University]], working as a summer intern at a magazine while doing a project on the [[protests of 1968|worldwide student movements]].<ref name="scmp" /> Li was deeply impressed by Tsang, describing him as having "exceptional intellectual qualities" and remarking that he arrived at his conclusions through independent analysis, unlike most Hong Kong students.<ref name="far">{{cite news|title=Red Sun Over Stanley|author=Andrew Li Kwok-nang|date=25 July 1968|publisher=Far Eastern Economic Review}}</ref>
==Career== A younger brother of [[Jasper Tsang]], he joined the ''[[New Evening Post]]'' after his release from [[Stanley Prison]] in 1969. He became chief editor of ''[[Ta Kung Pao]]'' in 1988. He has been a Hong Kong deputy to the [[National People's Congress]] since the same year and was appointed an adviser to the Central Policy Unit in 1998. He obtained from the [[University of Hong Kong]] two master degrees: Master of International and Public Affairs and Master of Arts in Comparative Literature. He was a [[Nieman fellow]] at [[Harvard University]] from 1994 to 1995.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/200706/23/P200706230083.htm|title= New team of Principal Officials appointed (with photos) |publisher= Hong Kong SAR Government|date= 23 June 2007|accessdate= 22 August 2017}}</ref>
In December 2007 just days after [[Anson Chan]]'s pro-democratic party victory in the [[2007 Hong Kong Island by-election|2007 Hong Kong island by-election]], he accused her of being a "sudden democrat" who "suddenly cares about people's livelihood".<ref name="sc" /> He further commented "Our new legislator today is a former official ... [U]nless she believes that [[Colonial Hong Kong|colonial rule]] was democracy, I don't know whether she has worked for people's livelihood or officials' livelihood."<ref name="sc" />
On 30 March 2009 Tsang made a historic visit to [[Taipei]]. This is the first visit to the island by a senior Hong Kong official since the [[Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong|1997 transfer of sovereignty]].<ref>{{cite web |website=Asiaone |url=http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20090330-132031.html |title=HK official sees improved Taiwan ties during rare visit |access-date=3 May 2009 |agency=Reuters |date=Mar 30, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110605120030/http://www.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20090330-132031.html |archive-date= Jun 5, 2011 }}</ref>
==Sources== *"From jail to cabinet contender", ''[[South China Morning Post]]'', 19 June 2007.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==See also== * [[Regina Ip]] * [[Jasper Tsang]] * [[Yeung Kwong]]
{{S-start}} {{S-off}} {{S-bef|before=[[Patrick Ho]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary for Home Affairs]]|years=2007–2015}} {{s-aft|after=[[Lau Kong-wah]]}} {{s-prec}} {{S-before|before = [[Frederick Ma]]<br /><small>''Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star''</small>}} {{s-ttl|title = [[Hong Kong order of precedence]]<br /><small>''Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star''</small>}} {{S-aft|after = [[Lee Kai-ming]]<br /><small>''Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star''</small>}} {{S-end}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsang, Tak Sing}} [[Category:Government officials of Hong Kong]] [[Category:1949 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Alumni of St. Paul's College, Hong Kong]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Nieman Fellows]] [[Category:1967 Hong Kong riots]] [[Category:Politicians from Guangzhou]] [[Category:Delegates to the 7th National People's Congress]] [[Category:Delegates to the 8th National People's Congress]] [[Category:Delegates to the 9th National People's Congress from Hong Kong]] [[Category:Delegates to the 10th National People's Congress from Hong Kong]] [[Category:Recipients of the Gold Bauhinia Star]] [[Category:Members of the Executive Council of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Members of the Selection Committee of Hong Kong]] [[Category:Hong Kong politicians convicted of crimes]] [[Category:21st-century Chinese politicians]] [[Category:21st-century Hong Kong people]] [[Category:Members of the Election Committee of Hong Kong, 2021–2026]] [[Category:Political prisoners held by Hong Kong]]